Kitsune
by Tya Katrine Bell
Summary: When out on a mission Naruto is believed killed, he is instead found by Kyuubi's only living family
1. Chapter 1 The Beginning

Kitsune

By: Tya Katrine Bell

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the Characters that are written of therein, my only concession to any ownership is my oc and the story plot that I am putting out there for others to read for their own enjoyment and amusement.**

Chapter 1: The Beginning

"Rasengan!" Was heard yelled in a young mans voice all across the cliffs. A blond with blue eyes and 3 whisker marks on each check stood facing off against a dark haired man in a black cloak with red trim and red clouds. The dark haired ninja was blown back by the blonds attack and landed several feet away. A pink haired girl with green eyes was nearby, attempting to heal a large white haired man who was bleeding badly from a wound in his side.

"Sakura-chan, how is Ero-Sennin doing?" the blond called to the girl, never taking his eyes off the ninja that he had sent flying a moment ago with his strongest attack.

"Jiraiya-sama should be fine; I've got most of the bleeding stopped." Sakura replied looking over at her teammate and friend. "Are you okay, Naruto?"

"I'm fine Sakura-chan, but I'm about out of ideas on how to stop Itachi, you got any ideals Ero-sensei?"

"How many times I gotta tell you to stop calling me that Gaki! I'm working on it; he can't have much fight left after getting hit with the Rasengan. I'll go check in just a moment, just gotta catch my breath." The famous toad summoner and pervert said as Sakura finished healing the wound that he had received from the shaving blade known as Samehada.

"And how is Kakashi-sensei doing?" Naruto asked still watching the unmoving figure of Itachi.

"Looks like he's still out." Sakura said turning to look toward the forest where they had first been attacked. A grey haired ninja in a mask lay near another man wearing a black and red cloak with red clouds. This ninja had a blue tint to his hair and skin and strongly resembled a shark. His blade, Samehada lay in the shade of the trees, softly glowing from the chakra it had absorbed from the white haired Jiraiya and the grey haired Kakashi.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Naruto asked glancing toward his pink haired teammate and his occasional sensei.

"I think so; he just got hit over the head with Samehada while it was still wrapped, so he might have a minor concussion along with the chakra drain from the blade." Sakura replied still looking at her first sensei and not seeing the downed Uchiha twitch.

Naruto didn't see the twitch either, but was still wary of approaching the nuke-nin turned Akatsuki member and circled closer to the cliff edge as he checked to see if the Uchiha's eyes were open. Not seeing even a hint of red he tossed a kunai to make sure, but when there was no reaction Naruto turned his attention to the others.

"Naruto, watch out!" Sakura screamed as Itachi surged to his feet and launched himself at the blond demon holder.

Naruto startled and took an involuntary step back, but his foot met nothing but air. He wind-milled his arms trying to catch his balance. He had just managed to do so when Itachi placed a seal on his chest. He froze immediately, unable to move because of the immobilizing seal, and then being unable to move he was also unable to keep his balance. He heard Sakura scream as he went over the edge, he knew he had no way to catch himself, but before he lost sight of everyone he saw something no other living person could claim. Uchiha Itachi totally dumbfounded. 'He must be blind not to see how close I was to the edge of that cliff.' Naruto thought as he fell. As he fell he heard Sakura calling his name and struggling against Jiraiya, then he hit the trees. He bounced off several tree limbs, breaking bones as he went, but the worst pain was when his spine shattered when his back hit the forest floor. He immediately blacked out.

When Naruto came to lying in a dark place surrounded in water, he prepared himself for a tongue-lashing, but he never received one.

"Kit, don't move. I've managed to disable the seal but if you move, you'll die instantly." Kyuubi said as he worked feverishly to save his vessel.

"Will I be able to walk again?" Naruto asked already dreading the answer.

"I'm not sure Kit, I'm doing all I can to heal you but with all this damage I'm just not sure I can do this as things are now."

"What do you mean by that?" Naruto asked suspiciously.

"No time now, Kit. Someone is approaching your body, I've gotta send you back out there to see what's going on, but remember, DON'T MOVE!"

Naruto came to again still lying on the forest floor, he didn't move but he could feel Kyuubi's chakra surrounding him. A moment later he heard several sets of approaching footsteps. Using all his willpower he stayed perfectly still even though it made him nervous not being able to see what was happening. Soon he found himself looking up at several kitsunes in all shapes and sizes. The largest, an unusual silver color stepped closer and sniffed at the chakra surrounding the blonds' body, then began to speak.

"Who are you, that chakra makes you smell like Kyuubi-sama." He asked in perfect ningen language.

Naruto said nothing, afraid that he would be attacked for containing the Kitsune Lord.

'_Kit, you're gonna have to say something._'

'_But what do I say?_' Naruto asked frantically.

'_Tell them that you're my ototo, that I've adopted you into my family_' Kyuubi replied

'_NANI, but you hate me!_' Naruto replied incredulously.

'_I don't hate you Kit, it's ningen in general that I can't stand_' Kyuubi replied.

'_Why is that, what did ningens do to you?_' Naruto asked his curiosity peaked.

'_It's a long story, but you'll find out soon, I promise_'

'_How do I know that you're not just trying to take over my body?_' Naruto asked, suddenly suspicious again.

'_It can't happen anymore Kit, you control too much of my chakra for me to take you over. Even if I managed to do so, it would only be temporary._'

'_Okay, so what does it take for me to be adopted into your family?_'

'_It's mostly already done, you smell like a kitsune and you have my chakra, as well as your own so you're stronger than me. Not much else to do other than put it in the clan records and okay it with the head of the kitsune clan._'

'_And who would that be?_'

Before Kyuubi could answer Naruto heard another set of approaching footsteps. "Hello Aniki, its good to see you've finally calmed down. Is this our new ototo?" Naruto opened eyes he didn't know he had closed to see something that totally shocked him.

"You're Kyuubi's imoto?!"

Sakura struggled against Jiraiya's hold as Naruto fell. "Let me go Jiraiya-sama, I have to save him."

"You won't do the gaki any good jumping off a cliff trying to save him. He's already fallen too far for you to save him and you're the only one any good with healing. We need to wake Kakashi first then we'll go down below the cliff and find Naruto. You getting hurt trying to save him will just make him feel worse."

"You're right Jiraiya-sama, I'm sorry I reacted so badly. Let's go check up on Kakashi-sensei." Sakura replied, giving up on struggling against the stronger shinobi.

"It's all right, Sakura. I understand completely. I'm worried about the gaki too but let's check on Kakashi first." Jiraiya said as he walked toward the unconscious Copy Ninja.

A few minutes later after the application of a healing jutsu from Sakura and a small infusion of chakra from Jiraiya, Kakashi sat up and looked around. "Where's Naruto? Where did Itachi and Kisame go?"

"Itachi accidentally pushed Naruto off the cliff, then he grabbed Kisame and transported away. We need to go find Naruto; do you feel up to it?" Jiraiya asked rising from the crouch he had been in while helping Kakashi.

"I'm fine, let's go get Naruto. He might be hurt and we need to tell Tsunade-sama what happened. At least this happened after the mission was over." Kakashi said as he pushed himself to his feet as well.

Jiraiya didn't reply, just headed for the cliff edge looking for an easy way down to where Naruto had fallen. He found one that was relatively easy and a few minutes later the three ninja were looking up at the cliff that they had been fighting on before.

"Let's spread out and look for him." Sakura suggested and the two older shinobi nodded and rushed through the forest looking for their blond student. A scream from Sakura brought both to her side within moments, but what they saw when they got there caused Kakashi to fall to his knees and made Jiraiya pale. The ground and trees were spattered with blood; there were several broken tree limbs on the ground around the remains of an orange jumpsuit that was usually worn by a loud blond demon vessel. The jumpsuit was torn to shreds and covered with more blood, but there was no sign of a body, just a set of drag marks that led deeper into the woods.

"We need to follow those marks, there's a possibility that he's still alive, and even if he isn't he deserves a proper burial." Jiraiya said, looking into the shadows of the deeper woods.

Kakashi stood with a nod and Sakura looked at the white haired sennin with firm resolve that said she was ready to help her friend. Jiraiya saw the expressions of the other two and lead the way into the woods below the cliff.

No more than twenty feet into the woods the three ninja were stopped by a small pack of wolves, most were normal sized but three were the size of small horses and the largest stood taller than Jiraiya.

"What are you doing in these woods ningen? These woods are not safe for ningens, especially ninjas from Konoha. These woods are where the nature spirits live and no ningens are allowed here without permission from one of the clan heads. Leave now before I allow my children to attack you."

"Please Wolf-sama; my friend is in here somewhere. We just want to find him and then we'll leave. We mean no disrespect to anyone but these marks lead in here from where he fell off the cliff above. We think he was dragged in here by someone." Sakura said with tears in her eyes.

"You're looking for the blond that fell from the cliff? His spine shattered when he landed, we heard it and then the kitsunes went out and spoke to him, I didn't see what happened next but if he was moved he's probably dead now." The largest wolf explained, showing a small measure of mercy to the young woman, "You should leave now, before any of the kitsunes come along, most of them have a large grudge against Konoha." With that the wolves turned and loped into the woods.

Sakura broke down sobbing while Kakashi just stood there staring blankly ahead. Jiraiya watched the wolves grimly and was the first to see one of the smaller wolves returning carrying something in its mouth. It walked up to the Sennin, and then dropped what it was carrying at his feet.

"The kitsunes send you this and order you to leave immediately or they will attack you." the wolf said, having a little difficultly forming the ningen words, when he was sure that he had been understood he turned and went back into the woods once again.

Jiraiya picked up the cloth that the wolf had dropped and realized that it was a hitai-ate with the Konoha leaf symbol on it. The metal was covered in scratches and the cloth band was soaked with blood. Jiraiya's mouth thinned into a straight line and he looked into the shadows of the forest in front of him, when he saw a pair of red slitted eyes staring back at him he turned to his other traveling companions. "Come on, we need to get back to Konoha and tell Tsunade-hime what happened so we can hold a memorial service for Naruto. Come on before we get attacked by the kitsunes."

"Are you sure that wasn't to harsh Aniki? They looked heartbroken." a shadowy figure asked from beside the red slitted eyes that Jiraiya had seen.

"Kit isn't ready to deal with everything yet. His body needs at least a year to adapt. I'm sorry for what happened to him but I had no choice in the matter, he would have died otherwise, and after everything he's gone through because of me I couldn't allow him to die for that same reason. Besides if we didn't lead his village to believe that he was dead they would've sent hunter-nin after him. The taller shadow with the red eyes replied.

"I know how he's been treated, but what about the Hokage. She's going to blame herself for this, what if she leaves again?" the smaller shadow asked.

"She won't, the only reason she came back was to help kit. She'll stay and take care of his friends because she knows that that is what he would want."

"What about his promises to his friends? He's going to want to keep them, that's his nindo. You know that. He'll never forgive us or himself if he doesn't keep his promises."

"I know that imoto, and I won't stop him from keeping his promises. His friends will just have to wait for a little while." the larger shadow with the red eyes said turning to the smaller shadow beside him.

"Aniki, they're ninja. You know just as well as I do that it's possible that they won't live to see him unless we do something."

"Alright, imoto. We'll figure something out, but it's going to take a little time for kit to adjust anyway, and nothing is going to change that."

"Well, about that, I have an idea how we can take care of that hebi-teme and save ototo's friend but…"

"Excuse me, Kyuubi-sama. Naruto-sama is awake and asking for you." the silver fox from before said as he approached the two shadowed figures.

"I'm not Kyuubi anymore; I gave up most of my chakra saving kit. Just call me by my given name from now on." the former Kyuubi said as he and the other shadow turned to follow the silver fox back to their home.

"Yes, of course Kaji-sama. Will you and Kori-sama be changing Naruto-sama's name as well?"

"That's an excellent suggestion Komuin, Aniki what is Naruto's main affinity?"

"Heheh, wind."

"So we continue the tradition even when we don't mean to. So, Kaze it is. The ningens are going to find it a little strange that most of the kitsunes has a name that starts with a K, don't you think."

"Does that mean that I should start calling you Kori instead of your chosen name?"

"Well it would be a little difficult to explain to them how a human and a kitsune clan head have the same name, don't you think?"

"Good point Kori-chan and what about kit's appearance?"

"I was thinking we could give him your human appearance and you could stay in your kitsune form, the only things that could give it away are his fingerprints and his subconscious mannerisms."

"No problem on the fingerprints, the Yondaime's attack that that Ero-sennin taught him messed up those and there's nothing anyone can do about those mannerisms. So what did you have in mind to bring kit back to life?"

"Well I was thinking…"

Jiraiya, Kakashi and Sakura went straight to Tsunade's office when they returned to Konoha to report on what had happened with the Akatsuki members and Naruto. Unfortunately Tsunade didn't take the news very well and broke down crying when she learned of Naruto's death. She immediately threw everyone out and refused to speak to anyone for several days. Things didn't go well with Naruto's friends either, Hinata fainted and was barely caught by Shino, while Akamaru gave a mournful howl and Kiba tried to comfort his partner. When the Council learned of Naruto's fate they forbade Tsunade from holding a memorial service for him that is for all of two seconds then Tsunade promptly broke several of their jaws, which caused the rest of the Council to change their minds and allow the service. Quite a few people showed up, more than anyone expected and no one caused trouble until the very end when some disgruntled civilians tried to deface the stone that Tsunade had had erected.


	2. Chapter 2 The Meeting

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any of the Characters that are written of therein, my only concession to any ownership is my oc and the story plot that I am putting out there for others to read for their own enjoyment and amusement.**

**Chapter 2: The Meeting**

**Five months after the memorial service, life was going on for everyone else. Tsunade never really smiled anymore but she no longer spent the whole day crying and she was able to get on with her work. She was currently expecting the return of Team Gai from a simple mission to deliver a scroll to the daimyo of Suna.**

"**Tsunade-sama, Gai and his team have been spotted coming this way and they're being followed by Oto-nins." Shizune said as she rushed through the door. **

"**Get all available defenders to the gates, and round up some medic-nins in case there are any injuries. Which gate are they headed for?" Tsunade asked, bolting for the door.**

"**The main gate." Shizune answered as Tsunade rushed past.**

"**We're almost to the gate, Gai-sensei." Rock Lee yelled as he saw the main gate come in sight.**

"**Excellent, see my students, no one can beat our flame of youth. Just a few more minutes and we'll be safely home." Gai yelled, "Neji, are they still back there?"**

"**Hai, they seem to be trying to catch up to us. However I don't think they're going to make it now with Konoha being so close, and Godaime-sama is coming to meet us." Neji answered as he ran beside Ten-Ten. **

"**Yosh, our fires of youth have triumphed once again." Gai yelled as he and the rest of his team ran through the gates. As soon as they were through Gai lowered the limp form that he had been carrying and turned to face the approaching Oto-nins.**

"**Just give us the boy, we have no quarrel with Konoha at this time, we just want the boy." the leader of the Oto-nins said as he and his team gathered in front of the gate, although they all made sure to stay out of weapon range. Gai and all the other senior ninja turned to the newly arrived Hokage for instructions on what to do.**

**Tsunade looked at Gai for an explanation on what the Oto-nin was talking about and he gestured toward the still unconscious boy that he had brought in. "How dare you, to imply that we would ever give up a child to monsters like you and your master. Leave this place now or I will have these ninja defend our home by any means necessary."**

"**You'll regret this, Orochimaru-sama will have his revenge on this stupid village, with or without the kitsune's help." with that all the Oto-nins took off back into the trees.**

"**Alright Gai, do you want to explain to me what that was all about, and who's this boy?" Tsunade said gesturing to the brown haired boy that the medic-nins were working on.**

"**My team and I had just finished packing camp and were getting ready to leave, when that boy came running out of the tree line and collapsed. I had Neji check for enemies and when he spotted the Oto-nins headed toward us I grabbed the boy and we ran as fast as we could."**

"**So you bring a complete stranger into our village. What were you thinking?" one of the ninja yelled at Gai.**

"**You would prefer that I let an innocent child be captured by those monsters, who knows what they wanted him for." Just as Gai had finished these words there was a poof and a cloud of smoke surrounded the unconscious boy. When the smoke cleared there was a small brown kitsune in his place.**

"**It's a kitsune; kill it before it can attack us." the ninja from before yelled and drew a kunai to do just that when it was knocked out of his hand by Ten-Ten.**

"**There must be a reason that those Oto-nins were chasing this kitsune, they even mentioned getting the kitsune's help, don't you think it would be a better idea to wait for the little guy to wake up and ask him some questions?"**

"**What would a newbie chunin like you know…gack." The older ninja started before Tsunade lifted him off his feet by his neck.**

"**You would do well to remember respect for your fellow ninja, especially one who currently outranks you. We have no ideal what this kitsune was doing so close to Konoha not to mention what this talented young woman just brought up. I'm sure the Oto-nins weren't chasing him just for the fun of it, and if they were I doubt that they would continue to follow him to here if it wasn't important. So do you have anything else to add?" Tsunade asked sweetly as she dropped the now purple newly demoted genin.**

"**No, Tsunade-sama. Gomen Ten-Ten-san, I let my anger get away from me, it won't happen again." The ninja replied between gasps for air.**

"**Now then; Gai I want you and your team to escort our young guest to the hospital to make sure that no one else takes exception to his presence. I'll send some of the other new chunins to assist you soon as well as Kakashi. When they arrive you and your team may go and rest for a while, but I will expect your full report before the end of the day. Try not to compete with Kakashi on lateness. If he wakes before you get to the hospital, keep him calm and send one of your students to get me immediately. Do you understand?" **

"**Hai, Tsunade-sama. My team and I will report to you as soon as we have gotten a few hours of rest." Gai said seriously, causing his team to stare at him.**

"**Why have you not treated those wounds?" Tsunade snapped when she looked over to the medic-nins that had been helping the boy. **

"**Gomen, Tsunade-sama. But my colleagues and I refuse to help that filthy animal. Who knows what it might do when it wakes up, it could attack us all like the Kyuubi, maybe it's a spy for the other kitsunes so they can invade and destroy our village." The head medic said.**

"**If that was so why did they wait so long to attack? It's been nearly 15 years since Kyuubi's attack, why not do so before then. Foolish woman, if they had wanted to kill us all they would have done it by now." Tsunade replied testily.**

"**Maybe it was because of that…" Once again Tsunade lifted one of her underlings by the neck.**

"**You would do well to remember that the Sandaime's law is still on the books, and as such you can still be punished for breaking it." Tsunade dropped the struggling woman and looked around at all the other senior ninja. "Now, does anyone else have anything to say on this or any other topics? No, good. Gai, I need you and your team to stay with this child until I can get the other chunins together to help you and I'll send Sakura to heal him, I'll also have to have Tsume or Hana Inuzuka come take a look at him if he stays in kitsune form. When the others arrive, find a place at the hospital to get some rest, I'm going to have to entrust your team and the other younger ninja to protect the young kitsune until we can get him healed and on his way safely."**

"**Of course Tsunade-sama, we shall await you and the other youthful ninjas, as well as my eternal rival."**

"**That's great Gai; I'll be at the hospital as soon as I find Hana or Tsume. You…" Tsunade pointed at a younger ninja. "I want you to find Haruno Sakura, Nara Shikamaru, Aburame Shino, Akamichi Chouji, Hyuuga Hinata, and Yamanaka Ino and have them come to the hospital immediately. Since I'm headed for the Inuzaka clan house I'll find Inuzuka Kiba… well. What are you waiting for? Go, now. And if they're not there by the time I get to the hospital or shortly after you will be doing D-rank missions for a month."**

"**Hai Hokage-sama," the young man said as he ran off to do as he was ordered.**

**Tsunade turned to face the ninja that had spoken against her first, "I want you to go and find Hatake Kakashi, Yuhei Kurenai and Sarutobi Asuma. You had best pray that you are at least as fast as that younger ninja or you'll be doing D-ranks for a year instead of the month that I'm going to currently assign to you."**

"**Hai, Tsunade-sama." the elder ninja said as he too left.**

"**Everyone else return to your previous posts. We will keep an extra eye out for attacks from Oto but for now we should have no problems. They would not attack so soon, when we are still wary and possibly expecting them." with that Tsunade turned to make her way to the Inuzuka clan house.**

**It had taken longer then she had expected to find Tsume, but when she did she also found Kiba and Hana. Tsume had been training her son and Hana had come along to help with any injuries that might occur as well as to learn how to train others. After Tsunade explained the situation both Tsume and Hana agreed to try and help the kit and the four humans and five dogs headed for the hospital. When they arrived it was to find most of the staff in an uproar. All of the older staff refused to have anything to do with the young kitsune while the youngsters were following their teachers. Fortunately Sakura had already started examining the kit while Gai and the others kept everyone else at bay. Hana and Tsume immediately went to assist and soon found a bear trap wound on the left hind leg of the kit. After treating it with some antibiotics and a common antidote, Sakura was able to get the wound healed completely. Making sure to lock the door Tsunade and the seven chunin settled down to wait for the kitsune to awaken.**

**After several hours, Tsunade realized that Shizune would be looking for her sooner or later. Not wanting to sit through a lecture she decided to go back to her office and so left instructions that she was to be informed immediately when the kit awoke and under no circumstances was he to be left alone. She also sent out some search teams for Jiraiya. She had a feeling that she would need him before this was all over and figured he might know a little about what was going on.**

**It was the middle of the night when the kitsune began to stir, Hinata and Shino were on watch and Kiba and Akamaru had gone to get them all a snack when he opened his eyes and looked at them. He blinked twice and then shot off the bed and into a corner of the room. Hinata immediately began trying to calm him down while Shino sent some of his insects to get one of the adults so Tsunade could be informed. **

**Hinata had managed to get the kitsune to return to his human form by the time Tsunade arrived, Kurenai had gone to get her as soon as she noticed the kikuchu. Jiraiya was following her when she walked into the full room, the now human boy was still huddled in the corner and everyone but Hinata was staying as far away from him as possible so as not to alarm him. Tsunade looked into the boys teal eyes and saw recognition, "You know who I am?" she asked to confirm her suspicions.**

"**You are Tsunade-hime, Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato and granddaughter of the Shodaime, and that man behind you is your teammate Jiraiya. The two of you and that teme hebi make up the group known as the densetzu no sannin, students of Sarutobi, Sandaime Hokage. My onee-chan and her parents watched this village very closely after what happened to Kyuubi-sama."**

"**What might your name be?" Jiraiya asked after lifting his jaw off the ground at the information that this young kit had just revealed.**

"**My name is Kodama, and before you ask, my onee-chan is Kori-sama. She is the head of the Kitsune Clan of the Seishin Woods, and the only surviving blood family of Kyuubi-sama."**

"**What are you doing so far from the Seishin Woods? Surely your sister is worried about you." Hinata said.**

"**Nee-chan sent me out to discover what those baka Oto-ningens and the hebi are planning."**

"**And why would she do such a thing?" Kakashi asked from his place against the wall.**

"**Which part? Send me or wanting to find out about the hebi's plans?" Kodama asked, suddenly showing a frighten-ly adult side to himself.**

"**Both, actually." Asuma replied as he was the first to recover from the shock of the boy's very adult sounding answer.**

"**The answer to the first part would be because of my ability," Kodama replied in a perfect imitation of Asuma's voice, "I also have a photographic memory," he continued in his original voice, "and as for the reason for spying on Orochimaru, he recently attempted to enlist the aid of the Kitsune Clan in the destruction of Konoha. When we refused he and his apprentice tried to attack Kori-sama. Kaji-sama managed to incapacitate the apprentice and Orochimaru fled. Since then he's been attempting to recover the boy and trying to force us to help him." Kodama finished.**

"**Why did she turn down the offer?" Tsunade asked shocked.**

"**Because it was Orochimaru's fault that Kyuubi-sama attacked you in the first place. You see, sixteen years ago, Orochimaru attempted to capture some of our clan for his experiments. He was discovered before he could harm or capture anyone but in the ensuing escape, he badly injured nee-chan, she wasn't expected to survive and wouldn't have without some outside help. However Kyuubi-sama didn't know this and thinking that Konoha had authorized the attack Kyuubi-sama came to get revenge."**

"**So what happened to you? I'm sure you didn't plan to be captured by those Oto-nins." Tsunade asked taking in the information and fighting not to react to it. '**_**It's all the hebi's fault, the attack, Yondaime's death, and all of Naruto's suffering. How could such a thing happen, how could we let it?**_**'**

"**I was trying to sneak up on them and find out what Orochimaru planned, he's very angry that we managed to capture the Uchiha so he's tried multiple times to get him back, luckily for us I've been able to find out what he's planned each time and get the information back to nee-chan but this time they set a trap for me and I was caught in one of those bear traps when I approached. They found me the next morning still in the trap but I was playing unconscious so they didn't expect me to run as soon as they released me from the trap. I ran as fast as I could and stumbled upon some of your ninja as they were breaking camp, I was trying to go around them because I wasn't sure how they would react if they saw me but I heard the Oto-nins coming and I figured that at least if I was brought here I would likely be killed instantly so I took a chance and ran for your ninjas. When the larger green clad one approached I realized I was still in my ningen form and hoped maybe I could get away later but we were farther from Konoha then I thought and I just barely remained conscious as we passed through the gates. I heard you speaking and I recognized your voice from some of the things my sensei had taught me so I knew I could relax because you wouldn't allow the Oto-nins to capture me while I was in your village."**

"**And how exactly did you recognize my voice? I sure don't ever remember meeting any kitsune." Tsunade asked suddenly suspicious again.**

"**Do you remember Sarutobi-sama introducing all of you to a man by the name of Kaeru? He had a frog birth mark on his right hand. He is my sensei."**

"**But that was almost 40 years ago. He was older than Sarutobi-sensei when we met him, he'd be ancient by now." Jiraiya exclaimed.**

"**Hai, Kaeru-sensei is ancient, he is now the oldest living kitsune sensei, and he is the one that taught me how to use my voice to copy anyone. He also taught my blood-sister Kagami." Kodama explained. "Is there anything else that you wish to know, I can't tell you much as it may betray my family if I do but I will answer what I can."**

"**I can't think of anything else to ask at the moment, and I'm sure that you could use some more sleep. I'll return in the morning to check on you and we'll talk then." **

"**Can the pretty lady with the pale eyes stay here?" Kodama asked as everyone started to leave the room.**

"**If you want her to, but I can't leave her here alone." Tsunade replied.**

"**That's fine, I don't mind others, it's just I don't like to sleep without someone near me. It's hard enough when I'm out away from home, in fact I don't really sleep when I'm away from my family."**

"**Hinata, do you mind staying with him?" Kurenai asked turning to her female student.**

"**I don't mind, I'll stay." Hinata replied quietly.**

"**If Hinata-sama is staying here, then I must stay as well." Neji said, speaking for the first time.**

"**Who are you? You have the same eyes as the pretty lady." Kodama asked curiously.**

"**I'm Hinata-sama's cousin Hyuuga Neji and I'm also her personal guard."**

"**You act like Kaji-sama with Kori-nee-chan; he's very protective of her and won't let anyone near her except our family." Kodama said smiling fondly.**

"**Neji-nii-san, y…you don't need t…to do that, I'm sure that Kodama-san won't hurt me, if he had wanted to hurt me he could have done it when Shino-kun and I were in here alone." Hinata replied stuttering only a little.**

"**Alright, I'll stay here. Hinata can go ahead and get some sleep and I'll switch off with the other senseis through the rest of the night. Is that alright?" Kurenai asked the kitsune.**

"**Hai, that's fine. I'm not sure what you're going to do when your Council finds out about me, but I don't mind if the senseis stay here to make sure that the dangerous kitsune doesn't attack the innocent girl." Kodama replied flippantly.**

"**I'm sorry I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, I just thought that I could protect the both of you better than the chunins, you know in case someone decided to try and destroy the dangerous kitsune."**

"**At least they would make it relatively quick, although that would totally ruin any chance you had at making an alliance with Kori-nee-chan."**

"**Nani, what are you talking about?" Jiraiya asked looking at the brown haired kitsune turned boy.**

"**Kori-sama told all of us if we were taken in by Konoha ninjas that we were to be polite and not start anything. She also said to tell you that the only reason she hasn't sent an envoy before now is because she didn't want anymore of her family to get hurt."**

"**Why do you do that, one moment you call her nee-chan the next you call her Sama." Ten-Ten asked curiously.**

"**When I speak of her as an ototo I call her nee-chan, and when I speak as a representative of the Kitsune Clan of Seishin Woods I must call her Kori-sama. It is not what she would prefer, she doesn't like any of her adopted brothers or sisters to call her Kori-sama but our Council insists on it. May I know your answer on whether or not you would be willing to discuss terms of an alliance?" Kodama asked in his grown up voice.**

"**I would absolutely be willing to discuss terms with your sister, is there anything else that you were told to tell me?" Tsunade replied.**

"**That is all that I was told to tell you, but nee-chan also mentioned that you would wonder why we didn't attack after Kyuubi-sama's defeat. I was told to tell you that we didn't find out the truth about all that had happened until several months later. By that time, everything was irreversible so Kyuubi-sama's parents didn't want to cause anymore trouble and so left Konoha mostly alone."**

"**I see, well thank you for that information, we'll leave you now to rest and in the morning we'll discuss this further." Tsunade and almost everyone else left the room, only Hinata and Kurenai stayed. **

**Hinata started to settle into a chair to sleep when Kodama stopped her. "Why don't you take the bed, I don't mind sleeping on the floor."**

"**I couldn't do that to you Kodama-san, I'll be fine here." Hinata assured him before closing her eyes.**

**Kodama sighed and returned to his kit form before jumping off the bed and going to the window.**

"**What are you doing?" Kurenai asked suddenly suspicious again.**

"**The moon is full tomorrow; I was just looking at it. Kori-nee-chan loves the full moon. She says that's the only time you can see at night as well as you can in the day, although she has very good night vision and can see fine the rest of the time she says that she likes the full moon best." Kodama replied turning to face the kunoichi.**

"**She's a kitsune, of course she can see in the dark."**

"**Yes, but she has befriended several of the local ningens and they can't see as well in the dark as we can so she only visits them around the full moon." Kodama explained as he turned back to face the window. "I'll need to leave in the morning, I was supposed to be back before the full moon, and nee-chan will worry about me if I don't get back soon. I just wish I could have found out what that hebi was planning, I'll have to go back without that information. I just hope we'll be able to stop the hebi without that information."**

"**Your name is Kodama? Is that your given name or the name you use with others?"**

"**Both actually. You know something of our traditions, how is that?" Kodama turned to face the kunoichi.**

"**My sensei had a rapport with the kitsunes before Kyuubi's attack, Yondaime introduced him to a kunoichi from Kiri that had a great deal to do with the Kitsune Clan."**

"**Your sensei knew Tsuyu-sama?" Kodama asked suddenly excited, "Did you ever meet her?"**

"**No, I never got the chance; my sensei told me she died right before Kyuubi's attack." **

"**Hai, she gave her life to save Kori-nee-chan. She is the only reason that Kori-nee-chan survived what the hebi-teme did to her when he was escaping. May I talk to your sensei, we all respect Tsuyu-sama and I would be proud to meet someone that knew her."**

"**He was killed several years ago." **

"**Gomen, I didn't mean to make you sad. Sensei says that while it's okay to miss those who are gone, we shouldn't let our sorrow take over. He told me that when he caught me crying for mother and father."**

"**What happened to your parents?" Kurenai asked, wondering why he and his sister had been adopted. **

"**They… gomen." Kodama started crying and Kurenai gathered him up in her arms to help him calm down. "Kagami-nee-chan and I were traveling with our parents, it was a few years after Kyuubi-sama attacked your village, about twelve years ago, and we found a little boy in the woods not far from here. He had blond hair and blue eyes and he was covered in bruises and cuts. Mama and Papa approached cautiously, they were in their ningen forms in case his parents were around and when they got close he started crying and tried to crawl away, asking not to be hurt. Kagami-nee-chan and I didn't understand what was going on so we got a little closer to see if we could find out and when he saw us he crawled toward us. Mama and Papa were afraid that he would hurt us so they jumped in front of us and turned back into kitsunes but instead of being scared the little boy calmed down and just sat there and watched us. After a few moments Mama started toward the boy to check and see if he was alright. When she got up to him and he didn't do anything she started nuzzling him like she would do with us, Papa looked at us and nodded toward Mama so we went over to her and the boy and sniffed him and then we started nuzzling him as well when he snuggled up to Mama. Mama and Papa led us a little ways away to a hollow that was big enough for all of us and the boy who had followed us and we all snuggled together and went to sleep. A few hours later Mama and Papa woke Kagami-nee-chan and I and made us hide in the brush, they had caught the scent of approaching humans and thought that they may have been looking for the little boy so they stayed with the still sleeping boy while nee-chan and I hid. When the ningens saw Mama and Papa with the boy they immediately attacked them and the boy, Mama stood over the boy while Papa tried to protect them both but they didn't last long, and both were killed in front of us. The ningens were about to kill the boy when some Konoha ninjas and Sarutobi-sama appeared and saved the boy, we watched as the ninja captured all the ningens and tied them up and Sarutobi-sama picked up the now crying boy and started to carry him away. I'm not sure how but as he turned he saw Kagami-nee-chan and I and coaxed us out of hiding. He apologized to us for what happened and told us that he would send us safely home, and then he summoned Enma-sama to get us home and took the little boy away. Enma-sama took us home and told Kori-nee-chan what had happened and promised that the ningens that had killed Mama and Papa were going to be punished for what had happened. The ones who attacked were civilians from Konoha. We found out later that Sarutobi-sama had kept his promise and that the civilians had been jailed for several years for attacking the boy and for what they did to Mama and Papa."**

"**Gomen for your and your sister's loss. There is no way for anyone to make it up to you but I'm glad that Sandaime-sama ensured that the people that did such an evil thing were punished for it." Kurenai said after Kodama had finished his story.**

"**Arigato." he replied faintly on the edge of sleep.**

"**Kurenai-sensei, do you think the boy he was talking about was Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked from her place in the chair beside the bed. **

"**I don't know for sure, Hinata, but I think it's probably likely, there aren't very many blue-eyed blond male children that lived in the village at that time." Kurenai replied cradling the sleeping kitsune.**

"**Why would the villagers try to kill Naruto-kun, he was just a little boy, what could he have done to cause them to attempt to kill him?"**

"**I'm sorry Hinata, I can't tell you. It's an S-class secret. We'll have to talk to Tsunade-sama about it tomorrow." **

"**Hai, Kurenai-sensei, do you want me to take him?" Hinata offered holding out her arms for the sleeping kit in Kurenai's arms. Kurenai looked down at the sleeping kitsune.**

"**Why don't you settle into the bed and then I'll hand him to you, that way you won't wake him and you can be more comfortable." Hinata nodded and climbed onto the bed and lay down on her side then looked at her sensei. Kurenai stepped up to the side of the bed and carefully laid the kitsune kit beside her student. Kodama opened his eyes for a moment when she had set him down then smiled and went right back to sleep.**

"**Why didn't you ask him about what happened to gaki? I was really surprised when you didn't even bring it up." Jiraiya said as he sat across from Tsunade in her office. **

"**I was going to wait until morning to ask him, but I may wait until I meet this Kori. I didn't want to upset him more than he already was. I am going to ask about Uchiha in the morning, I want to know what they've done with him." Tsunade answered as she nursed a saucer of sake.**

"**I think I want to meet this Kaji, if he was able to stop Uchiha and keep Orochimaru from getting him back then he's very powerful. If we can manage to reach an agreement maybe the kitsunes will help us defeat Orochimaru." Jiraiya said, going off on a slightly different tangent as he swallowed his sake in one gulp.**

"**So why didn't you bring it up?" Tsunade asked suddenly.**

"**I don't know, I thought about it but I just got the feeling that it wouldn't be a good idea, and I do listen to my instincts on occasion." Jiraiya replied as he poured himself another serving of sake.**

"**Alright, so I'll meet you back here in the morning then," Tsunade said as she pushed herself to her feet. She wobbled for a moment then steadied herself and headed for the door.**

"**Giving up already?" Jiraiya asked slurring slightly.**

"**I don't want to have to deal with a hangover as well as the Council and the questions that they are going to demand that I ask that child in the morning. So I'm going to bed, and if you know what's good for you you'll do the same. Good night." Tsunade said as she walked out the door.**

**Tsunade walked into her office the next morning to see Jiraiya sitting in the same chair he had been in the night before, she groaned quietly when she saw this, thinking that he had passed out there but as she groaned Jiraiya turned to look at her with a grim look on his face.**

"**What's with the look?" she asked as she walked around the desk and took her seat.**

"**I went to the hospital this morning to check on the boy and was informed that some of the villagers tried to attack him early this morning. Kakashi was standing guard at the time and was able to protect everyone without causing any major injuries. Kodama and the Hyuuga are perfectly safe and didn't receive any injuries but Kodama wants to leave as soon as possible, which is completely understandable. I managed to convince him to stay but he says he has to leave before the end of the day."**

"**Why?"**

"**He says that Kori was expecting him before the full moon, which is tonight. He says if he doesn't get home soon the others might come looking for him and he doesn't want anything to happen to anyone because he is here. He also admitted that he had tried to send a message to his sister and sensei while he was trapped but he's not sure if they received it." Jiraiya replied.**

"**You know that the Council isn't going to like this, they want some answers and they aren't going to allow him to leave before they get them. This is a disaster." Tsunade said, dropping her head into her hands. **

"**Can't we send The Kitsune Clan a message and let them know that Kodama is here with us and that he's safe?" Jiraiya asked trying to help his friend and teammate.**

"**And what do we say if they demand that we return him immediately? If we send a message like that it could possibly cause problems, besides how do we send the message. You said that the wolves told you that no one was allowed in the Seishin Woods without permission from one of the clan heads." **

"**Maybe we can get Kodama to send something along with the messenger to let them know that the message isn't a lie or a ruse of some type." Jiraiya suggested then someone knocked on the door.**

"**Yes, who is it?" Tsunade asked knowing that Shizune wouldn't knock.**

"**Tsunade-sama, there is a stranger at the main gates asking to see you and our new guest; she says her name is Kagami." Izumo one of Tsunade's chunin guards called through the door.**

"**Well, that may just solve our problems," Tsunade said to Jiraiya as she approached the still closed doors then opened them to reveal the chunin that had called through the door. "Izumo, please go inform Kagami that we are coming. Jiraiya, come on lets go get Kodama and meet his sister."**

"**Kagami-nee-chan, you got my message." Kodama yelled as he threw himself into the arms of the girl that had just walked through the gates, she bore a strong resemblance to Kodama but she was several years older and her eyes were a little darker.**

"**Of course we did ototo," Kagami laughed. "Kaeru-sensei went home to tell Kori-nee-chan what happened with the Oto-nins and I followed your scent to here."**

**Suddenly remembering that they weren't alone Kodama let go of his sister and turned back to all the watching ninja with a blush. "Gomen nasai, Kagami-nee-chan may I introduce Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama," Tsunade and Jiraiya nodded when their names were said. "The others behind them are the ninjas that have been watching over me while I've been here. Gomen, I can't remember your names." Kodama said blushing profusely.**

"**What happened to your memory ototo?" Kagami asked jokingly. "Nee-chan told us who all these people were when she was telling us about Kyuubi-sama." **

"**How is it that you know so much about our village?" Tsunade asked.**

"**Kannon-sama insisted that we keep a close eye on this village for reasons that we are not allowed to discuss that concern Kyuubi-sama's fate. That is all I will say at this time about that subject." Kagami explained scowling at everyone. "Now may I be shown to a place I can rest for a time, I have had a long journey and I'm sure that your Council has quite a few questions that they are going to insist that we answer before you will allow my ototo and I to leave your village so if someone would show me to a place where I might at least freshen up I would greatly appreciate it." **

"**Gomen-nasai Kagami-nee-san, demo Kori-sama told us to be polite when speaking to the people from Konoha and you are being rather rude to these people that have saved my life not once but several times and I would ask that you remember the manners that our parents taught you and be more polite." Kodama said stiffly, showing that adult side of himself once again.**

**Kagami looked at her little brother shocked and hurt that she had brought out that side of him, she hated when he acted that way and she especially didn't like it when she was the cause. She sent an apologetic look to her brother, then turned to the watching ninja and went to her knees and bowed until her head touched the backs of her crossed hands which she had placed on the ground before her. "Sumimasen for my behavior, I should show more respect for the people that saved my ototo from Oto-nins. My only defense is that I do not like this village in the least but I should still have shown you all more respect for what you have done for my brother."**

"**Kagami-san, there is no need to apologize like this," Hinata said stepping toward the young woman that was still on the ground. "Kodama-san told Kurenai-sensei and I what happened to your parents and I'm sure that after everyone else knows the story that they will understand as well."**

**Kagami had sat up suddenly when Hinata had mentioned her parents and looked toward Kodama when Hinata had finished speaking. "Arigato Hyuuga-sama, if ototo trusted you enough to tell you that story you must have treated him well. Still gomen for my behavior, I should know better, Kori-sama has tried to get me to understand that I can't blame every ningen for my parent's death but I still sometimes have difficulty remembering."**

"**If you would like to rest I'm sure that we can find someplace you will feel comfortable for a while and we will discuss everything soon." Tsunade replied neutrally.**

**Kagami nodded her head and bowed to everyone once again before grabbing Kodama and pulling him off to the side for a moment. She turned back to everyone after saying something to him quietly and looked at Tsunade questionly. "You don't want to do anything today?" **

"**No, tomorrow will be soon enough for questions, for today why don't you and your ototo rest." Tsunade replied.**

"**Arigato Tsunade-sama is there any certain place you want us to stay or do you just want us to find an inn for the night?"**

"**Would the two of you be okay at an inn? You won't change into kitsune will you?" Jiraiya asked.**

"**The only time we return to kitsune is if we will it to happen or if we're injured. Other than that we're fine." Kagami answered.**

"**Do you have any money?"**

"**Hai, Kori-nee-chan makes sure that we have plenty of money whenever we go out for any reason." Kodama answered he started to say something further but Kagami shot him a warning glare.**

"**Well then, perhaps it will be best if you stay at an inn for the night or if you want you may stay with me for the night." Tsunade said, wondering why the two siblings were wanting to get away so much.**

"**I wouldn't want to impose. We'll find an inn for the night and see you in the morning. Come on ototo." Kagami replied and dragged Kodama away before he could say anything. **

"**Something is going on, she's up to something. Kakashi, get some of the Anbu and keep an eye on them." Tsunade ordered.**

"**Hai." the silver haired man replied before disappearing in a puff of smoke.**

**The next morning Tsunade and Jiraiya met in the Hokage's office once again before going out to find the kitsune siblings but just as they were about to leave the building Kakashi appeared before them.**

"**Hatake, what are you doing here? I told you to watch the kits." Tsunade asked getting a bad feeling.**

"**Hai, Tsunade-sama, demo they ran away somehow. I went to get them and I found this." the jounin explained as he handed the blond woman a folded piece of paper with her name written on it. Tsunade looked at it for a moment before taking it and opening it.**

"**What does it say?" Jiraiya asked staring at the blond as she read the letter.**

"**It's from Kodama, he apologizes for leaving but it seems Kagami didn't give him a choice. Apparently she didn't trust us and thought that we might not allow them to leave, it also says that he will pass on the message that we are willing to make a truce to Kori and will return with her answer when he can."**


	3. Chapter 3 Old Friends and New

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any of the Characters that are written of therein, my only concession to any ownership is my oc and the story plot that I am putting out there for others to read for their own enjoyment and amusement.

In case anyone is wondering, I would have posted this earlier but my computer or the website was doing funny things. Sorry.

Chapter 3: New Friends and Old

Six months later, Kurenai and her team were on their way back home from a mission when someone called Hinata's name from the woods that they were passing. Everyone stopped and looked back at where the voice had come from to find a small reddish-brown kitsune kit. When the kit saw that they had seen him he transformed into a boy and slowly approached.

"Are you Hinata?" the boy asked as he got closer to the group.

"Hai, is…is there something that I can do for you?" Hinata asked as the kit turned boy stopped in front of her.

"Kodama sent me to find you and deliver a message. It's for Hokage-sama as well but Kori-sama thought it best that none of the kitsunes try to enter Konoha until she apologized formerly for the actions of her imoto… Kagami was a little rash, running away like that but she was just trying to protect her ototo, she thought that your Council may do something to him to extract information. Oh forgive me, I haven't even introduced myself, my name is Kagu." the young boy bowed.

"I'm Hyuuga Hinata, as you know and these are my teammates Abrume Shino," Shino nodded his head to the boy, "Inuzuka Kiba and his partner Akamaru," Kiba stared at the kit in human form and Akamaru barked, "and this is our sensei Yuhei Kurenai." Hinata finished as Kurenai bowed her head.

"Kori-sama told me to give you this," Kagu said holding out a scroll, "and to inform you that Tsurara-san and Tatsumaki-san will be arriving at your village two weeks from now and that they will be bringing a… well I guess you could say it's an apology for what happened with Kagami and Kodama."

"Who are Tsurara and Tatsumaki?" Shino asked in a monotone.

"They are very close friends of Kori-sama's family. They are the main human speakers for all the clans that live in The Seishin Woods. Tsurara-san is the daughter of Tsuyu-san, and Tatsumaki-san is her adopted brother." Kagu answered as he approached closer to hand the scroll to Kurenai he was careful to skirt far around Akamaru who watched him closely but didn't offer to bite him.

"Why did they send you to find us, why didn't Kagami or Kodama come themselves?" Kiba asked also watching the human-looking kitsune closely.

"Kagami is with Kaeru-san, she was reprimanded for her behavior and so she has to stay with Kaeru-san until she gives your Hokage an official apology, Kori-sama called it probation. She also said that the only reason that she isn't grounded in the Seishin Woods until then is because she's needed to follow some Oto-nins. Only her special abilities will allow her to do this job and that is the only reason she is not confined to the Seishin Woods right now. As for Kodama, he is also on a mission, but he happens to be traveling with Tsurara-san and Tatsumaki-san so he'll be arriving in two weeks with them. Is there anything else I can explain or may I go?" Kagu asked, obviously nervous about being so close to Akamaru.

"You didn't explain why they sent you to find us." Kiba reminded.

"Kurenai-san, Kodama said that you know a little about the kitsune culture because of your sensei, would you care to explain the purpose of my name?" Kagu said looking at the red-eyed woman.

"The only thing that I know about that is that quiet often you adopt a name that reflects your strongest ability."

"Correct Kurenai-san. I am Kagu because my sense of smell is so keen, I mean the other kitsunes have a great sense of smell but mine is especially keen. Kodama is great at copying the voices that he hears and Kagami can appear to be anyone that she wants as long as she has at least seen a picture. Of course the two of them have something of a cross ability also. Kodama can change his appearance but he isn't as good as Kagami and Kagami can copy voices but she can't do it as well as Kodama. It is a shame what happened to Asahi and Toge, if they had lived so much would have been better."

"Who is that?" Shino asked shocking his teammates that he would actually ask a stranger two questions.

"Asahi and Toge were Kodama's and Kagami's parents. They didn't have any special abilities but their family was well respected for all the abilities that they had brought to the Kitsune clan.

"Hinata mentioned that something happened to their parents when Kagami arrived months ago, but she never said what happened." Kiba explained now wondering what had happened.

"Toge and Asahi were doing some reconnaissance for Kannon-sama and Kabau-sama but it wasn't supposed to be anything dangerous so they took their kits along, they died trying to protect a little blond haired blue eyed boy from some of the Konoha villagers."

"Who are Kannon and Kabau? And why would villagers attack a little boy?" Kiba asked totally dumbfounded.

"Kannon-sama and Kabau-sama were Kyuubi-sama's parents and I can't answer for what those ningens did as I wasn't there." Kagu hedged. "If there is nothing else, I have several other things that I must do before I can return home; I want to go home as soon as possible, as you may know most kitsunes don't like to be away from home. So I'll wish you good day and I hope to see you in the Seishin Woods when Tsunade-sama comes to discuss the treaty with Kori-sama."

When Kurenai's team arrived home and delivered the scroll that they had been given, they were slightly shocked that she immediately opened it without checking for traps.

"What does it say, Tsunade-sama?" Hinata asked, further shocking her teammates.

"It's actually from Kori, she asks that we forgive her for allowing Kagami to come here and take Kodama away. It says that she would have never have allowed something like that to occur. It goes on to say that she is sending a friend of hers to lead us to her and to give us a 'gift' to apologize for her imoto's behavior." she finished as she put the scroll down, as soon as she had removed her hands from the scroll it burst into flames, turned to ash before anyone could react.

Two weeks later Tsunade had sent out all available ninjas to keep an eye out for the approaching visitors and it was Sakura and Team Asuma that discovered them.

Sakura was teamed with Ino and Shikamaru and Chouji were a few feet away keeping a look-out for any approaching visitors when they heard a crashing noise coming from deeper in the woods. All looked at each other then took off for the location of the noises. When they reached the place were the noises had originated they were shocked to find an unconscious Uchiha Sasuke on the ground, they approached cautiously but when Sakura was close enough to positively identify Sasuke, she forgot caution and rushed to his side.

"Sasuke is breathing okay, his pulse is strong and he doesn't seem to be injured in any way so why is he unconscious and how did he get here?" Sakura asked as she assessed her old crush.

"I'm not sure…shhh… did you hear that?" Shikamaru asked as there was a rustle in the nearby woods.

"Kodama, have you found him yet?" They all heard from farther away.

"Gomen Tatsu-kun, still no sign of him, has Tsu-chan had any luck?" someone called from closer than the previous voice.

"No, but he can't have gotten far, the seal should have knocked him out by now." the more distant voice called back.

The four chunins looked at each other after the voice died down then Shikamaru called into the trees. "Kodama-san, is that you?" The rustling stopped and there was a moment of silence before Kodama parted the brush not far away and stepped into view. He looked at the four ninja standing before him then noticed the unconscious Uchiha on the ground at their feet and turned to the trees that he had emerged from.

"Tatsumaki-kun, Tsurara-chan he's over here. The Konoha ninja have him." he called before turning back to the four young ninja. "Ohayo mina, gomen for what happened before, but nee-chan can be a little overprotective. Do you think that Tsunade-sama will like Kori-nee-chan's gift?"

"This is the gift that you all have been talking about?" Shikamaru asked, totally flabbergasted, which was rare for him.

"Hai, what are we going to do with him, he's been nothing but trouble since we captured him, although he did get a little better after Kaji-sama and Kori-nee-chan blocked the curse seal." Everyone heard more rustling in the bushes and the four junior ninja turned quickly to face it, but relaxed slightly when a young woman and a boy that appeared to be their age emerged with their hands held away from their bodies so as not to alarm the ninja. The young woman appeared to be in her mid-twenties, she had light brown hair with streaks of copper and blond in it and she had one blue eye and one green eye, the boy that was with her had copper hair the color of a newly minted coin and his eyes were the reddish-brown of dried blood. The two strangers looked to Kodama expectantly. "Gomen, Haruno-san, Yamanka-san, Nara-san, Akamichi-san, May I introduce Tsurara and Tatsumaki, the official liaisons of the clan heads of the Seishin Woods. Tsu-chan, Tatsu-kun, May I introduce Haruno Sakura, Yamanka Ino, Nara Shikamaru and Akamichi Chouji."

"Please, don't be so formal; call us by our given names. I don't know about everyone else but it makes me feel old to be referred to by my family name." Ino explained looking at her teammates and friend and seeing them nod.

"Arigato and you may call me Tsu, or Tsu-chan if you prefer and…" she looked at the boy beside her.

Letting out a put upon sigh he said, "And you can call me Tatsu if you must." he growled

"Now, now T don't be that way, I know that you have trouble making friends but at least give them a chance." Tsurara replied giving her brother a playful push then Sasuke groaned and shifted, then pushed himself off the ground. "Well, look who woke up, did you learn your lesson this time Uchiha-kun or are you going to try running away again? Every time you get too far away from either T of I then you're gonna pass out."

"And you won't wake up until we find you, so until someone manages to cancel the seal that Kori and Kaji placed on you you're stuck with us." Tatsumaki finished, scowling at the dark haired Uchiha that was still on the ground, Sasuke growled and launched himself at the other boy and was quickly knocked back to the ground by a now smirking Tatsumaki.

"Tatsu, how many times must I ask you not to aggravate him, I know that your angry at him for what he did, but if you continue to pick at him he's going to end up doing something stupid and then I'll have to deal with him again." Sasuke flinched at these words and settled down almost instantly looking at the slightly older young woman warily. "Now then, could you lead us back to your village and help us ensure that Uchiha-kun here doesn't attempt to run away again."

"I wasn't running away," Sasuke growled, speaking for the first time, "I was going ahead to see if I could find the dobe and settle things with him once and for all."

Sakura's face immediately fell and she refused to look anyone in the eye. Sasuke didn't notice as he continued to scowl at the two humans that had escorted him here, everyone tensed when a puff of smoke appeared nearby and relaxed slightly when it cleared to reveal Kakashi and Asuma.

"Yo," Kakashi said as he waved his hand lazily at the group, he didn't notice Sasuke until the youth stood up and scowled at him.

"Still showing up late, eh Kakashi. I should have guessed that time wouldn't change you, now where is the dobe, he and I have a few things to discuss, telling those stupid foxes to capture me and bring me back here." Everyone gasped at this revelation and looked at the three strangers.

"I told you that we would discuss that later Uchiha," Tsurara replied in a calm and quiet voice, totally changing her demeanor startling both Tatsumaki and Kodama.

Sasuke started to reply, but Kodama ran over and slapped a hand over his mouth before he could say a word. "I suggest that you keep quiet, Uchiha-san. You don't want to upset Tsu-chan anymore than you already have or she may do something drastic and I very much doubt that anyone here would enjoy seeing that." he whispered in the boy's ear, when Sasuke relaxed slightly he released the taller boy and turned to the two jounins that were watching intently and bowed.

"Welcome back, Kodama. It's good to see you again; I would love to know how you and your sister got away before." Kakashi called turning his attention to the young kitsune, trying to help diffuse the situation. The kitsune grinned at the older man, then was engulfed in a puff of smoke and when he was visible once again he looked totally different, in fact Kakashi was sure that he had seen the same face when guarding/watching the two kitsunes before, the kitsune grinned at everyone and returned to his former appearance still grinning.

"I'm sorry I disappeared like that Hatake-san but I did try to get your attention when nee-chan was dragging me away, you were busy reading a little orange book and giggling like a little girl." At this, Tatsumaki snorted and Tsurara tried to turn a snicker into a cough.

"Well as interesting as all this is, I really think that we need to be heading back to the village." Asuma called, trying to be the voice of reason.

"Are you ready to face your punishment Uchiha-kun, or are you going to try to run away again?" Tsurara asked sweetly.

"I'm not going to run away, I wasn't trying to run away before, I told you that already, I just wanted to see the dobe before I faced Hokage-sama and received my punishment." Sasuke replied sullenly not looking at anyone and so not seeing everyone flinch at his once again mentioning wanting to see Naruto.

"Do you need us to restrain him?" Chouji asked.

"No need, he can't get more than ten feet away from either T or I before he collapses and he traveled all this way without misbehaving to much, I think that discussion that Kaji had with him really made a difference."

"Yeah, well being threatened by a Kitsune Clan leader like that will have that effect on most people, especially when he's taller than you on all fours and weighs three times what you do." Tatsumaki replied, snickering.

"We really should get going; Hokage-sama is expecting us. Kurenai went on ahead to let her know that you had arrived so she could call in the other greeting parties." Asuma called trying once again to get everyone going.

"You're right ninja-san, we should get going." Tsurara replied seriously.

Twenty minutes later the whole group stood before the Hokage in her office, Kurenai and her team stood off to the side and Kodama waved at Hinata discretely.

"I understand from the letter that I received that your names are Tsurara and Tatsumaki and that you two are here to deliver a 'gift' which I'm going to assume is Uchiha here and it also said that you were going to lead us through the Seishin Woods to have a meeting with Kori about reaching a truce and possibly an alliance."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama. Kori asked T and I to lead you and some of your ninja to the meeting, she also suggested that you may want to contact Suna and invite them along to join in the negotiations." Tsurara replied, "May I also suggest that you try not to bring along any ninja that have a dim view of kitsunes as that may cause tension with the clan. I don't mean to be rude but Kori has had to fight long and hard to convince some of the elders to agree to this meeting and if things go wrong it may cause problems with the negotiations, in fact when we all discussed this and Kodama gave his report on what had happened, it was suggested that you bring along the ninja that helped guard Kodama when he was injured. Now this is just a suggestion and you don't have to follow it if you chose not to but the part that is not negotiable is that Uchiha-kun must return with us…" here Tsunade started to say something, "Now before you say anything, the reason for this is that if he gets to far away from me and Tatsu then he will fall into a coma and may never wake up. When we left the woods Kaji and Kori placed a seal on all three of us that controls how far away we can get from him without causing him to fall unconscious." Tsurara finished explaining, and then pulled her dark green shirt away from her left shoulder to show the seal there, it looked to be written in gold ink and contained several strange symbols surrounded by a circle of more strange symbols. Tsunade turned to Tatsumaki and he held up his left arm showing the same seal on his inner forearm and when Sasuke only rolled his eyes, he gave a sigh and yanked his shirt sideways to show another seal on his right shoulder but this was written in black ink.

"And what about the cursed seal that Orochimaru placed on you Uchiha, am I supposed to believe that you suddenly see the error of your ways and won't run off again. I don't know how dumb you think I am but I'm not so foolish as to allow you to do that again."

"No need to worry about that, Kori, Kaji and the entire Council all worked together to permanently seal it, the only ones who can break the containment seal are the ones who placed it and that they will never do." Tatsumaki assured the blond Hokage before she could get too worked up about the matter.

"Enough of this, where is the dobe. I want to see him and ask him why he told those stupid kitsunes to capture me. Where is he anyway I figured that he would be here gloating." Sasuke yelled and was jabbed in the ribs by Tatsumaki, but when everyone else remained silent Sasuke looked around to figure out why.

"Uzumaki Naruto was killed in an accident on the way back from a mission several months ago. He and a team of others were passing by the Seishin Woods when they were attacked by enemy Nins and he fell off a cliff and shattered his spine. When his teammates went to retrieve him, they were stopped by some inhabitants of the Woods and were ordered to leave, the only thing that we received of his was a scratched hitai-ate." Tsunade explained coldly, pulling out a drawer on her desk and pulling out a box covered in intricate carvings and removing a scratched and battered hitai-ate to show to the shocked Uchiha. "This is part of the reason why I am seeking to meet with the Kitsune Clan, so I can get Naruto's remains back and give him a proper burial."

"Kori realizes that and she asked me to assure you that all will be answered when she meets with you. Now is there anything else that you need to discuss with us?" Tsurara asked.

"Nothing that I can think of at this time, I hope you don't mind waiting a few days, I did send a message to Suna and was informed that their new Kazekage will be arriving soon to participate in the negations as well, the group should be arriving today or tomorrow and we will leave as soon as possible after that." Tsunade replied trying to think of a way to insure that these people didn't pull a disappearing act like Kodama and Kagami had. Her question was answered when Tatsumaki nudged his sister.

"Oh yes, arigato T, Tsunade-sama Kori was thinking that you may be hesitant to allow us our freedom while we were here so she gave us this," Tsurara pulled out two identical scrolls, "these contain a powerful seal, much like the one that keeps the Uchiha from escaping, if you would prefer you can choose someone to act as guard and they will receive the same seal as T and I have and you may choose either of us to receive the seal that Uchiha carries so that if we attempt to leave we will be knocked unconscious."

"What is the range on this seal?" Tsunade asked cautiously.

"The range is normally ten feet, but seeing as that might be difficult for everyone involved it has been extended to whatever you think is appropriate, you just have to decide who you want the two seals to be placed on and have them think of the distance when they apply the seal and that is the distance that the seal will enforce." Tatsumaki explained as he had been studying with Kaji on these types of seals and had helped create this one.

"Well then I suppose that I'll be the one to take the seal and I would prefer that you take the other half. Is that a problem?" Tsunade decided, making all her ninja startle at this news.

"Do you think that's best, Tsunade-sama? Perhaps you should allow one of us to take the seal instead." Kurenai suggested.

"Are you worried that this is some kind of plot to kill your Kage?" Tatsumaki asked coldly, glaring at everyone.

"Now T, I'm sure they weren't implying anything of the sort, I know that you helped Kaji make this seal but I doubt that they know that so you shouldn't take it personally." Tsurara assured the younger boy as she glared at the kunoichi, "if you would prefer that it be you who takes the seal then I'm sure that would be fine. I wouldn't want anyone to think that I would ever cause anyone harm. Now is there anything else that anyone would like to say to either of us?"

"I apologize for offending you, I didn't mean to imply that you had any intention of harming anyone, but I have never even seen a seal like this…"

"Then perhaps you should have that Ero-sennin take a look at my work since you don't trust it, Kori-chan tells me that Tsunade's teammate is rather good with seals when he's not busy writing those dirty novels of his. Since I am obviously untrustworthy you should get someone you do trust to inspect my work and in the meantime I'm going for a walk." Tatsumaki replied, disappearing in a cloud of smoke when he had finished speaking.

"Well I hope you all are happy, I have enough trouble getting him to trust people without your dismissing his work like that, and accusing us of trying to cause injury to your Kage is a low thing to do. You don't see me commenting on what you all did to Kyuubi, or what happened to Uzumaki when he lived here. So I suggest the next time you think before you say something, now if you'll excuse me I need to go and find him before he does something that we'll all regret, Uchiha are you going to come with me or are you going to stay here and fall unconscious." Tsurara threw the two scrolls down on Tsunade's desk and stormed out of the office, Sasuke followed a moment later, not willing to fall unconscious again if he could help it.

"Kakashi, please follow our guests and make sure they don't get into any trouble." Tsunade called quickly.

Kakashi walked out the door and shut it behind him. "I think you should apologize the next time you see Tatsu, he's had a very hard life and he has trouble trusting people with his secrets, but I think that he wants to trust you. That's rare from him, he hasn't really trusted anyone since he saved Kaji; he only recently came to trust me. I just learned the last of his secrets a few days ago and…well if you knew anything about what he's gone through, but of course you don't, and you probably don't care either, just like all the other ningens of this village. I should have known when Kori-nee-chan told me what had happened to Naruto that this place would never change." Kodama yelled, and then he too stormed out and slammed the door behind him.

"I didn't mean to insult him; I just thought that it would be best to let someone else take the seal in case there was some kind of side effects." Kurenai explained.

"Yes, but my reasoning is that a good leader should ask nothing of their subordinate that they are not willing to do themselves, and further more it would be more difficult for me to be taken out of the village quietly than one of you. That is why I suggested myself for the seal instead of asking for volunteers. Now I think its best that we all get some rest for now and we'll meet again when Kazekage-sama and his group arrive and I'll try to explain what happened to our guests, Kurenai I think that you should apologize to Tatsumaki when you get a chance." The dark haired jounin nodded and turned to leave with her team.

Kakashi found both of the visitors and his former student on top of the Hokage Monument. Tatsumaki sat on top of the Yondaime's head looking out over the village below, he remained in the shadows, not wanting to be seen.

"I know that you're upset, but you can't blame them. They don't know what is going on and they're just trying to keep their leader safe, they didn't know that you helped Kaji with the seal and they weren't trying to put you down. I'm sure that if you give them a chance they'll apologize and that they will try to be your friends, I know that you've been having trouble with everything that has happened but things are about to change. Once we've reached an agreement we won't have to worry so much about secrets, and I'm sure when they learn about the advantage that being our allies offers they'll jump at the chance. I mean the biggest reason we've been able to hold back Orochimaru for so long is because of the agreement that we reached with the hebis before all of this started. If it weren't for that Manda and his subordinates would have attacked us by now. So, give them a chance. I know that this is hard for you, but I'll be here for you and Kaji isn't going to leave you either. We've been with you from the beginning and we're not going to leave you now, so just remember no matter what happens here or back in the Woods nothing can change what Kaji and I feel for you, I think even Sasuke here is getting to like us, so just try to keep your hopes up. They didn't mean to hurt you, isn't that right Kakashi-san." Tsurara called, turning to face the jounin as he walked out of the shadows and sat down beside the young man.

"Your sister is right; I know that Kurenai didn't mean to hurt you. We just have a little trouble trusting strangers."

"You mean you have trouble trusting kitsunes, Tsu told me the story about what happened to Kyuubi. I know that it's difficult to trust someone when you believe that they would do something like that with a malicious intent, but Kyuubi didn't do it for the reasons that you all think, and from what I understand he paid for his mistake. There have been mistakes from both sides so I'll forgive Kurenai-san and give everyone else another chance, but I would suggest that you not allow things to go like this when we arrive at the Seishin Woods or things might not go very well." with that Tatsumaki stood and walked away, "I'll see you later nee-chan, I'm going to go find something to eat. Com'on Uchiha, let's go find a nice restaurant, although we'll have to apply a henge on you so you won't be recognized. Wouldn't want you to have any trouble with you fan club after all, who knows what they might do to you after your absence. It would be a shame for us to drag you all the way back here just for you to be injured by some silly civilian girls, hopefully for you we don't run into any of your kunoichi admirers, I don't suppose you'd want a kitsune henge as they're stronger and can't be broken by ningens that don't know what they're dealing with."

"Hn perhaps that would be best. Where are we staying until we leave?" Sasuke asked looking at the jounin that was still sitting on the ground near Tsurara.

"I'm not sure but Tsunade-sama will probably insist that you stay with her. I'll find you and Tatsumaki after Tsurara and I discuss a few things."

"I think it's best if we go and get something to eat as well, if I don't eat soon I won't be able to function soon." Tsurara replied, rubbing her fingers across her forehead and squinting a bit.

"Nee-chan, why didn't you say anything, I would have gone with you to get you something to eat."

"What's going on?" Kakashi asked perplexed.

"Nee-chan gets very bad headaches when she doesn't eat regularly, if we don't get her something to eat soon she'll have to take her medicine and sleep for almost 24 hours in order to get rid of the headache." Tatsumaki explained as he walked over to his sister and pulled her up. "Is there a place nearby that we can go and get something to eat?"

Kakashi pushed himself to his feet and placed a hand on Tsurara's shoulder then placed the other on Sasuke's and everyone disappeared in a puff of smoke, to reappear in Tsunade's office.

Tsunade looked up as she heard someone appear in her office, she was shocked to see Kakashi and Sasuke standing in the middle of her office with Tatsumaki behind them supporting Tsurara.

"What happened?" Tsunade asked as she came around her desk to check the young woman for any injuries.

"Nee-chan waited to long in between meals and now she's having a migraine, can you get her something to eat and a quiet place to lie down? If she doesn't eat something and take a nap she'll be miserable for a few days." Tatsumaki explained, leading the slightly taller young woman to a chair in front of Tsunade's desk.

"Its fine T, I'm not that bad yet. The headache is just starting. I'll be fine as soon as I eat a little something; you need to stop worrying about me so much. It's just a little headache," Tsurara explained then winced as Tsunade lifted her head to look into her eyes.

"How long have you had these headaches?" Tsunade asked as she preformed a diagnostic jutsu on the young woman.

"Since I was 10, they started right after Orochimaru tried to kidnap Kori and me."

"You were almost kidnapped by Orochimaru? Why would he want you?" Kakashi asked surprised.

"I am the last of a clan of ice benders that used to call Kiri home. My mother Tsuyu escaped from the Bloodline Genocide. She didn't know that she was pregnant with me at the time. When she found herself a 'guest' of the Kitsune Clan she realized that she was pregnant and after befriending Kannon who was pregnant with Kori at the time she was accepted as a member of the clan. I was raised among the kitsunes, I am one of the clan, which is why I am trusted and allowed to come and go in the Seishin Woods at will. I was the only human to be so honored until T here saved Kaji and he was adopted into the clan as well for his bravery. Tatsumaki is not my true brother; he is Kaji's adopted brother, as I was adopted by Kannon after my mother's death, in honor of her bravery and my sacrifice."

"How long ago was this?" Tsunade asked suspiciously.

Tsurara tried to look up at the younger man standing near her but winced again when she raised her head and grabbed her head suddenly as she jerked back. "T, can you please get into my bag and get out the green bottle." she whispered as she burrowed her head into her arms to block out the light from the large picture windows behind Tsunade's desk.

Tatsumaki nodded and pulled out a scroll with a strange seal on it, then whispered, "Nee-chan I need some of your blood to release the seal, I can't get your stuff out without it."

Tsurara started to cry and rock back and forth, as she did this Sasuke pulled a kunai out of Kakashi's pouch and tossed it to Tatsumaki, before anyone could react he grabbed one of Tsurara's hands and pushed a finger to the point until a bead of blood came, then pressed the bleeding finger to the seal. Instantly there was a puff of smoke and a large traveling bag landed on the floor with a thud, Tsurara winced again at the sound. Tatsumaki quickly opened the top pouch and rummaged around in the bag for a moment before pulling out a small green bottle and a spoon.

"Close your eyes and lift your head nee-chan, I've got your medicine." Tsurara did as she was told without any argument, and when she lifted her head everyone could see that she was extremely pale and covered in a cold sweat. Tatsumaki poured a small amount of a strange milky substance into the spoon and carefully lifted it to her mouth, "Okay, nee-chan just open you mouth and swallow and you'll be asleep in no time.

"Arigato, T." she whispered as she did what she was told, a moment after swallowing the substance all the tension went out of her body and she slumped in the chair.

Tatsumaki turned a glare on a startled Tsunade. "Why did you continue to question her when I told you what was happening, you should have had someone get her something to eat before you started asking questions," he turned the glare onto Kakashi who lowered his head in shame.

"Will she be alright?" Tsunade asked worriedly looking at the slumped figure.

"She'll be fine," Tatsumaki growled putting the bottle and spoon back in the bag that he had gotten them out of, "come here Uchiha."

For once Sasuke did as he was told and watched as Tatsumaki pressed his thumb to the borrowed kunai, bringing blood. When Sasuke stopped in front of the copper haired boy Tatsumaki took the bloody digit and swiped it across the seal on his shoulder that kept him near one of the strangers, when Tatsumaki's blood touched the seal it turned crimson, "There, you have 30 minutes to find someone to attach yourself to before that seal turns back on and you go into a coma permanently, just place a hand somewhere on the person that you choose and think about the seal and the distance you want to have between you, and make sure that the person you chose is someone that you can stand because this seal can't be tampered with anymore, the only choice you have afterwards is getting it removed and the only one able to do that is Kaji. Have a good life." With that Tatsumaki hefted the bag and settled it onto his back before gathering up the limp form in the chair and heading for the door.

"Where are you going?" Tsunade demanded as Tatsumaki reached the door.

"Back to The Woods, forget about the alliance, if this place still hasn't changed even after what happened to Naruto then you don't deserve to be allied with us. Don't worry though, the kitsunes aren't going to attack you, but as your not allied to us we don't have to stop the hebis from attacking you anymore so good luck beating Orochimaru. At least you don't have to worry about him getting the Sharigan, Uchiha here will never be able to go back to him and Itachi is to strong for him to beat. Now I need to get Tsu back home so Fuji and Fujiiro can look at her and make sure that she's okay." Tatsumaki opened the door and started to leave when he felt a hand on his elbow. He turned to find a livid blond Hokage standing in front of him.

"What do you know about Naruto?" Tsunade growled not releasing the glaring boy that couldn't fight back without first dropping his unconscious burden.

"It isn't any of your business; you and this village are despicable." Tatsumaki growled back, Tsunade didn't give him a chance to continue; she punched him across the hall then motioned to Kakashi to help her. She gathered up the still sleeping Tsurara as Kakashi lifted the now unconscious Tatsumaki. The two elder ninja walked back into Tsunade's office where Sasuke still stood, shocked at Tatsumaki's outburst. Tsunade settled the young woman on a couch near the wall of her office while Kakashi wrapped Tatsumaki in chakra ropes and placed him in one of the chairs facing the desk.

"Hatake, I want you to go and gather everyone back here. It's time we found out what is going on once and for all," Kakashi nodded and disappeared in another puff of smoke, "Uchiha you better stay here, it seems at least that they aren't willingly trying to put you in a coma and if you stay linked to them then perhaps we can convince them to stay a little longer." Sasuke nodded and walked over to place his hand on Tatsumaki forearm where the seal was located, when his hand made contact both seals flashed silver for a moment then resumed their former appearance. Tsunade looked up when Shizune appeared in the doorway and she gestured for her to take a look at the still unconscious Tatsumaki. Shizune gave her teacher a confused look before doing as she had been told.

"He'll be fine, Tsunade-sama. He should wake up in a few minutes. What happened?" she asked as she walked over to check on the unconscious Tsurara.

"Tsurara didn't eat as she should have and ended up with an excruciating migraine, when Kakashi brought us back here Tsunade and Kakashi got distracted asking questions and Tsurara got worse, so Tatsumaki gave her something to make her sleep and started to leave, but he mentioned something about the dope before leaving and when Tsunade asked him what he knew he refused to answer and started to leave, that is until Tsunade introduced him to the wall with her fist." Sasuke explained shocking all those who were conscious in the room which now included Shikamaru and Chouji. While the four stared at the Uchiha in shock Ino and Sakura walked into the room and looked around curiously.

"What is going on Tsunade-shisou?"

"We're going to find out what is going on, once and for all. And I'm going to find out what happened to Naruto, Tatsumaki here mentioned him before attempting to storm out of here now we're going to wait for everyone else to arrive before I'll say anything else." Tsunade explained before turning to face the windows and the Hokage Monument beyond it.

It took only another five minutes for everyone else to make their way to the Hokage's office. Surprisingly the last one to arrive was Jiraiya, everyone was shocked that Kakashi didn't take forever but no one questioned him on it as he had been one of the ones to miss Naruto the most. It was a few moments after Jiraiya walked in and leaned against the wall near a still sleeping Tsurara that Tatsumaki started to stir. "Itai, what hit me?"

"That would be me gaki and you have some explaining to do. Now I want to know what you know about Naruto and anything else that you may be keeping from me."

"Are you sure you want everyone in this room to know what I know about Naruto, I mean I would hate to get into trouble for breaking Sandaime's law, not to mention how your newest group of ninja are going to feel once they know the truth of the matter." Tatsumaki sneered.

"You are not part of this village so you can't actually be punished, for one. Two is I don't believe that anyone here is ever going to think of Naruto any differently just because of a secret that they should have learned about several months ago when the kitsune first showed up, and I don't think the truth will affect their way of thinking about us."

"I don't know, it certainly changed the way I thought about this place, but if you insist." Tatsumaki turned to face his peers. "Do you all know the story of Kyuubi and Yondaime?"

"Of course, we learned that in school. Kyuubi attacked Konoha and was killed by Yondaime who died to do it, duh." Kiba smarted off.

"Is that what you're still teaching them, even after Kodama set you straight on why Kyuubi attacked?"

"What are you talking about and why is it that you don't refer to him as Kyuubi-sama like all the other kitsunes."

"Kodama and the others call him sama in respect of what he did and what he was before he attacked this village and I don't because one I'm related to him by adoption and two I don't know what he did as I wasn't around before he attacked Konoha, I was born the year that he attacked, which makes me 14 and a 1/2. And as for what I'm talking about Kyuubi only attacked this village because Orochimaru came to the kitsunes and attempted to capture some of them to experiment on, when he failed in that he attempted to just get Kori and nee-chan and when that failed he attacked Kori and nearly killed her. Now the last that Kyuubi knew about Orochimaru he was still a Konoha ninja and so he came here to get his revenge. Now to continue the story, Kyuubi was not killed by Yondaime, he was sealed into a newborn. Naruto was his container, but no one in this village with a very, very few exceptions saw Naruto as any different from Kyuubi so the villagers tried several time to kill him, which is how Kodama's parents were killed. Some of the villagers had attacked Naruto, he escaped into the surrounding woods to try to get away, he was discovered by Kodama's family and when the villagers found the supposed 'Kyuubi' consorting with other foxes then of course those foxes had to be destroyed before they could go and raise an army and attack the village once again. So Naruto grew up in this village, being abused and mistreated because of his burden, and then came the Akatsuki, who wanted Kyuubi for their own reasons. So when Naruto and some of his teammates were returning from a mission Itachi and his partner took their opportunity to attack and accidentally caused Naruto to fall off a cliff, shattering his spine. And where should this happen but right outside the Seishin Woods and it just so happens that a group of kitsunes were passing by at the time and found the injured boy. Naruto spoke to Komuin, one of the head foxes and then he met Kori, he explained what had happened and told her of his promise to his female teammate to retrieve his teme teammate. Kori promised to fulfill his promise for him and had some of the kitsunes bring him into the woods so she and some of the others could try to heal him; unfortunately this wasn't a complete success."

"Matte, are you saying that Naruto is alive." Sakura exclaimed.

"No I'm saying he isn't dead, I'm not really sure what he is or isn't. You would have to ask Kori about that one. Now will someone please untie these stupid chakra ropes so I can check on Tsu and make sure the medicine is working okay." Kakashi looked to Tsunade and received a nod before doing as Tatsumaki asked. As soon as he was free the boy pushed Kakashi away and rushed over to where his sister lay on a couch. He laid a hand on her forehead and jerked it away quickly when she moaned and shifted, he hovered over her as she opened her eyes and immediately closed them again.

"T, can you please get me my sunglasses and something to eat, I feel a little better but if I don't eat something soon I'm going to be useless for days." she had just finished speaking when the doors opened and Kodama walked through the door carrying a small bowl of ramen and with a large take-out sack looped over his wrist.

"Please tell me something in that take-out bag is for nee-chan." Tatsumaki said as he rushed over to the kitsune.

"Of course, Tatsu-kun, I had a feeling that you and Tsu-chan would forget to eat anything so I went and found this great ramen stand, where I met this nice brown-haired man with a scar over his nose and he bought me a bowl of ramen, then I ordered you a beef ramen and asked the ramen chef to make Tsu-chan some wonton soup." he explained pulling out a bowl of ramen for Tatsumaki who set it down and waited for the bowl that Kodama had gotten for Tsurara. As soon as he had it and a pair of chopsticks he rushed back to her and handed over the set. While she was breaking apart the chopsticks he turned to the blond Hokage. "Is there anyway for you to close the windows or block the sunlight a little bit, nee-chan is going to be a little light sensitive for the rest of the day and if she gets another migraine she might not be able to travel when the Kazekage and his entourage arrive."

"Of course," Tsunade clapped her hands together in a seal and instantly the windows were shadowed as though covered by sheers.

"Arigato Tsunade-sama," Tsurara said as she sipped some of her broth and fished a noodle out of the broth and swallowed it almost whole.

"Are you sure that you're okay nee-chan?" Tatsumaki asked hoping that they could leave as soon as possible.

"Fine and we can't leave," Tatsumaki's face showed puzzlement at her statement. "Wondering how I knew? My seal is gone, which would only happen if you tried to release the seal, unfortunately for you, it would appear that Uchiha has decided to stay attached to you, and so we can't leave until everyone is ready, otherwise we'll break our promise and we would never do that would we ototo." Tsurara replied giving Tatsumaki's forearm a meaningful glance. Tatsumaki looked at the seal which had reappeared on his forearm and noticed that it was slightly altered, he turned a glare on the Uchiha which didn't faze the dark haired young man one bit.

"So, now that I've eaten something and we've explained a little is there somewhere that I can take a nap and clean up a little? We've been traveling since early this morning and I'm feeling a little grungy."

"Of course, Shizune will show you to my home where the three of you will be staying for the time being, when the Kazekage arrives he and I shall meet with you once again so we may discuss the trip and our travel plans then we'll go from there. Do you have any other questions?" Tsunade asked, speaking primarily to Tsurara as she was still a little angry with Tatsumaki.

"You do realize that Uchiha will have to stay with Tatsu correct? If we separate them now there's no telling what the consequences will be."

"Of course, Uchiha," Sasuke turned to face the blonde Hokage. "You and Tatsumaki will share a room until we can get that seal removed and once we return you shall face your punishment for your disloyalty. Now Shizune please show these four to our house and make sure they're comfortable, I'll be home soon, I just have a little more to take care of and I need to discuss a few thing with the others here."

"Hai Tsunade-sama, I'll go ahead and start preparing dinner for all of us." Shizune bowed to her mentor and lead the visitors and the Uchiha out of the double doors and down the hall.

"What did you want to discuss Tsunade, there is obviously something bothering you or you would not have such a pensive look on your face." Jiraiya commented as he settled himself in the chair that Tatsumaki had been tied up in.

"All of you get comfortable, I need to share some information with you and it may take a little while to get it all out."

"Why weren't we told what Naruto harbored, and why would the villagers treat him in such a cruel manner?" Neji asked, wondering about how someone that was so mistreated could end up the wonderful person that he had been.

"The answer to your first question is that Sandaime made a law that forbid your generation from being told what was inside Naruto, and as for the second part of your question who knows why anyone would treat a child in such a manner, although partly it is due to fear. When Naruto was born, our village was in a great deal of danger of being wiped out and Yondaime had little choice in the matter, he did however request that the village treat Naruto as a hero, unfortunately for everyone none of the villagers listened, I also regret that quite a few of the ninja of this village don't see him as the young man he is but as a monster. Now, as the sensei of Yondaime I take partial blame for his decisions, that is part of the reason that I was teaching Naruto, and I hope to continue his education some day."

"But, I thought he was dead." Kiba explained.

"Not according to what Tatsumaki and Tsurara were explaining to us, I hope that he'll be willing to return to this village after these negotiations, until then I'll do as I have to and hope for the best." Jiraiya answered.

"So, we're going to bring the loudmouth back, good, I've kinda missed him, I'll be happy to see Whiskers again." Kiba exclaimed, Akamaru barked his acknowledgment of that statement and wagged his tail.

"The only question is, will he want to come back with us? I mean, he's been with the kitsunes almost a year now and no one has heard a peep from him, maybe he doesn't want to be here anymore." Tenten commented.

"Don't talk like that Tenten , Naruto's our friend and would never betray us like that, I mean he did keep his promise, Uchiha-kun is back in the village, just as Naruto-kun promised and he always swore that he would become Hokage someday, so he must come back." Lee exclaimed.

"Yes, Lee. That is true, but you must remember what Tatsumaki said. He may no longer be the boy that we all remember him as, until we see him again there's no telling what he'll do, we'll just have to wait and see. I want all of you to prepare yourselves for a diplomatic mission. The Suna delegation should be arriving sometime tomorrow and we will be leaving the day after tomorrow for the Seishin Woods, if we hurry, we should reach them before sundown, but we can't be sure how long the negotiations will take, so pack for several day, probably two weeks to be on the safe side. Dismissed." Tsunade said as she rubbed her temples, trying to stave off a headache.


	4. Truths Still Hidden, Secrets Revealed

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any of the Characters that are written of therein, my only concession to any ownership is my oc and the story plot that I am putting out there for others to read for their own enjoyment and amusement.**

**Chapter 4: Truths Still Hidden, Secrets Revealed**

"**So what do you think, Kaze-kun? Are you ready to reveal yourself to your friends, it's been almost a year since they last saw you and you've changed." said a shadow sitting in a chair across from a slightly larger shadow.**

"**I'm not sure Kori-nee-chan I don't know how they're going to react to the rest of the news and I couldn't bear to lose even one of my friends, I just don't know what to do." answered the slightly larger shadow.**

"**It'll be okay, you don't need to worry about that, they've already accepted that you were the container for Aniki. I'm sure that they'll be able to accept that you've changed a little because of what we had to do to save you. All we can do is wait and see, and if something goes wrong you'll always have a place with me and Kaji-kun, and you know that the rest of the clan cares for you a great deal. So no matter what you'll always have a family. What ever you decide know that I will always see you as my ototo, nothing will ever change that and I'll always be here," the smaller shadow placed a hand on the larger's chest over his heart. "We also get to surprise everyone with the news of your lineage, that'll be fun at least."**

"**You're right nee-chan, I know that I shouldn't worry so much, but I really do want to go back to the village, after all I can't become Hokage if I no longer live there." **

"**That's right kittling; nothing can stop you as long as you can clearly see what you want and yourself achieving it. Of course, helping to broker an alliance between your village and the incredibly powerful Kitsune Clan can't hurt either. So, do you want us to call us by your clan name, your kitsune name or your given name?" asked another shadow, bigger than either of the shadows sitting in the chairs.**

"**I am and always will be Naruto, so call me that, but I want to see their reaction when they realize what a wonderful prank we've pulled on them so far."**

"**Just be prepared to accept your punishment for worrying all of your friends so much, they probably think you've gone insane or something after what was said." the smaller shadow said, a laugh obvious in her voice.**

"**I know, but I don't want them to know yet. I need them to work a little for me, to show me that they care about me as much as I care about them."**

"**There's nothing wrong with that, you need to make your friends realize how lucky they are to have you and don't forget that, besides you're part of the kitsune clan now, and in true kitsune fashion we're going to play a little trick on those ninja, just don't expect to fool that Suna friend of yours, he'll probably see right through your act." the female voice assured the young man that was hidden in shadow.**

"**What makes you say that?" Naruto asked, stepping toward a door.**

"**Didn't Aniki tell you about the fun he and that kuso tanuki used to have tricking everyone? They often played tricks on others when they were younger."**

"**Really, what kind of tricks did you play?"**

"**I am not discussing this with you kittling, the tricks that we played are a little to adult for you any way and I would thank you not to mention any of those imoto. Now if the two of you are done playing around we need to prepare for the arrival of our guests and where exactly are you planning on them staying while the negotiations are taking place?" the largest shadow asked looking at the smallest shadow.**

"**I was thinking of them staying at The Kitsune Inn." **

"**Now that's just mean, nee-chan, even I'm not that mean." Naruto exclaimed, but he sounded anything but upset about the plans.**

"**What can I say; Aniki has been a bad influence on me. Right after I was born he taught me a great deal about playing tricks." Kori snickered.**

"**Yeah and the first trick you played was on me and I still can't believe that I fell for it."**

"**Neither could I, it was such a simple trick I didn't think it had a chance of succeeding but I was proven wrong and the whole clan got a good laugh out of it too."**

"**What did you do?" Naruto asked suddenly interested.**

"**I…" Kori was interrupted by a knocking sound, "we'll have to continue this later Aniki, someone's at the door."**

"**Don't worry about it imoto, I'll see the two of you when I get back from my mission, I'm keeping an eye on the tanuki and his entourage. They should arrive in Konoha late tonight or tomorrow morning at the latest. Is there anything else that you need me to do before I head home, maybe follow the delegation home and make sure that nothing happens to them?"**

"**I've already got others taking care of that, I sent several of the younglings to meet them in the woods outside Konoha, now ototo and I really have to go, we'll see you soon Aniki." Kori exclaimed.**

"**See you later Kaji-nii-san." and with Naruto's exclamation the shadowed place where the three were speaking disappeared.**

**Shizune knocked on the door once again, not receiving an answer she turned to look for the two guests only to face one of them, "Oh, Kodama-kun, I was just looking for you and the others, dinner will be ready soon and I wanted to make sure that Tsurara-san was okay from her headache earlier." the kind young woman explained.**

"**It's no problem Shizune-san, I was just coming to do the same, did no one answer when you knocked?" Kodama replied looking at the closed door behind the dark-haired woman.**

"**No, I knocked several times but there was no answer from anyone." Just as Shizune finished speaking the door across the hall opened to reveal an Uchiha with a major case of bed-head, not that it was all that different from his normal hairstyle. "What are you doing over there Uchiha-san; I thought that the seal only allowed you to go a maximum of ten feet."**

"**It was, but when Tatsu tried to make a run for it and I choose him to carry the seal again I gave myself a little more room, it is now 15 meters instead, this way I don't have to be right outside the restroom anymore." Sasuke grumbled.**

"**So where are Tatsu and Tsu-chan? If they aren't with you and you aren't unconscious then they can't be far." Kodama commented, having checked the room that Sasuke had come out of and not smelling either of his two friends.**

"**Tatsumaki told me that he was going to stay with Tsurara until she got a little more rest and some more food in her to make sure nothing to bad happened."**

"**Oh yeah, I almost forgot about what happened the last time Tsu-chan forgot to eat and got a migraine. That was a really bad situation and I really hope that there is not a repeat…ever." Kodama commented before going to the door that Shizune had been knocking on when he had showed up and opening the door to show a mostly empty room with a ruffled bed and a knapsack on the floor in the corner. They all noticed that the bathroom door was closed and there was a faint light showing under the door, fearing the worst Shizune hurried across the room and pushed the bathroom door open to reveal a few lit candles providing light and Tatsumaki standing over a kneeling Tsurara as she leaned over the toilet.**

**Shizune immediately rushed forward to help as Tsurara finally leaned back against her brother, pale and sweaty. "Are you alright?" the older woman asked as she performed a diagnostic jutsu to discover what was happening, and blanched at the look that she received from the young man supporting Tsurara.**

"**No, she is not alright, not only does she have a very serious migraine, but now it is so bad that I'm going to have the knock her out until we can get to the Inn and get Fuji and Fujiiro to take a look at her and get the stupid migraine under control." Tatsumaki growled, still glaring at Shizune until he felt Tsurara patting his arm to calm him.**

"**Don't blame them, T. I've felt this coming on for a few days now, I was just hoping that I could delay the rest of the symptoms until we could get back home or at least to the Kitsune Inn, unfortunately I wasn't so lucky and now we'll have to leave for the Woods earlier than Tsunade-sama had planned and I'm not going to be able to do anything at least until we get to the twins, I'm sorry ototo, I really didn't want to place all of this trouble on you, you and Kodama are going to have to lead everyone to the Inn," the young woman turned to the kitsune-turned-ningen that was still hovering in the doorway leading to the bedroom, "Kodama, Kaji is shadowing the Kazekage's party, I need you to go out to meet them and make sure that Aniki comes along as well, I need him here to make sure that nothing happens to anyone while I'm incapacitated, and Shizune-san, I forgot to bring something stronger with me so I'm going to have to ask you to find me something that will keep me unconscious for the next few days."**

"**Is there nothing that we can do for you here Tsurara-san? Tsunade-sama is the world's best med-nin and she trained me personally."**

"**Not meaning this as a slur against you or your shisou, but my condition is very delicate and persnickety and I don't really know enough about it to help you treat me right now, however I would greatly appreciate anything that you and your shisou could do to help me after we get back to Fuji and Fujiiro, as they know exactly what my condition is and will be able to explain it in detail."**

"**Of course Tsurara-san, as for knocking you out for a few days I can use a jutsu to send you into a dreamless sleep and you will remain that way until I remove it, will that be acceptable?" The dark-haired med-nin offered.**

"**I accept your offer but must ask you to wake me when Kaji-nii arrives so that I can tell him what all is going on."**

"**I'll go ahead and knock you out now, and then I'll go immediately and inform Tsunade-sama about the change in plans, okay?" Shizune offered and acted as soon as Tsurara had nodded.**

**I know I know, it's not very long. But I'm kinda busy and figured that you all had waited long enough for the next chapter, and I know that I promised a few of you that you would find out about who Naruto is in this chapter and if you squint you can probably guess, but I don't want to ruin the surprise for everyone else so you'll have to wait another chapter. I'm starting some new classes in school and depending on how that goes I may have some more time to write soon, I plan to have the next chapter of The Truth of the Matter out by the end of September and a longer chapter of Kitsune out by mid-October at the latest. No promises, I don't make promises I can't keep but that is the plan. Also, I know that no one expected the migraine, heck I didn't expect it until I wrote it and I promise that all will be explained soon, not next chapter (although that plan could change) but if not then the chapter after that. Thanks for reading and please don't flame me, I really am trying. Tya.**


End file.
